Improvement in self-feeding breech-loading fire-arm



. BALL.

Breech-Ioading Fire-arm.

Patented Aug-116, 1864` No. Z3,827.

M/zhz ewes,

derncath and alongside of its barrel.

UNITED STATES PATENT EErcp ALBERT BALL, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SELF-FEEDING BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARM.

Specification forming part of Letters. Patent No. 43,827, dated August16, 1864.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT BALL, now or late a resident of thc city andcounty of Worcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented anImprovement in Repeating Fire- Arms which Load at the Breech 3 and I dohereby declare the same to be fully described in the followingspecification and represented in the accompanying drawings', of which-Fgure 1 denotes a longitudinal section of a re-arm provided with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken through itsmagazine-cover. Fig. 3 is a side view of it.

The fire-arm on which my present invention is based has a tubularmagazine arranged un- \Vith this magazine a charging carriage iselnployed to receive the cartridges and introduce them successively intothe rear end or chargechamber of the barrel. The charging-carriage ofthis fire-arm and its mode of operation are essentially like those ofthe fire-arm on which Letters Patent No. 38,935, and dated June 23,1863, have been granted to me.

My invention consists in a new mechanism for retracting the cartridgesor drawing them out of the magazine and into the chargingcarriage, ascircumstances may require, the said mechanism consisting of a rack-bar,a spring or spring-presser, and certain impellin g and retaining pawls,arranged together and operating as hereinafter described; also, in thecombination of a pawl-elevator with the pawls, and the rack-bar, andspring-presser; also, in'the combination of a magazine-cover and itsband or connection with the magazine and the barrel; also, in thearrangement of the pawl-sprin g with reference to the two pawls.

In the drawings, A denotes the barrel, and B the tubular magazine, ofthe firearm. C is the stock; D, the charging-carriage; E, trigger-guardlever, by which the said carriage is operated, and G the device forexpelling a cartridge-shell from the cartridge-carriage.

The cartridges are represented at a c a c as arranged within themagazinein line with one another, and in rear of a helical spring-presser, F, placed within the magazine and supported at the frontextremity of a notched or rack bar, c, which extends from the lock caseor chamber m into the magazine, as shown in Fig. l. This spring -presserconsists of a double-headed slider, b, and a spring, c', en-

veloping it, and arranged between the larger head bof the slider and aprojection, d, from the rack. The rod of the slider plays freely throughthe projection d, and is furnished with a smaller head, f, which is inadvance of the projection d, and serves to keep the presser F inconnection with the rack-bar.

The said rack-bar is notched, as shown at g g g, the distance betweeneach two next adjacent notches being equal to the lengt-h of acartridge. Furthermore, the presser F is in length about equal to thatof a cartridge.

Two pawls, G H, act on the upper edge of the rack-bar, and with itsnotches, they (the said pawls) being pressed upon the bar by the forceof a spring, I, which presses on the two pawls,

and is fastened at its rear end to the stock.l

One of these pawls is a retaining and the other an impelling pawl. Thelatter, which is eX- hibited at G, is jointed to the shorter arm of thelever E, and consequently is operated by such lever during itsmovements.

While the longer arm of the lever is in the act of being forceddownward, the impellingpawl will be pressed against a notch of therack-bar, and will cause such rack-bar to be moved backward the lengthof a cartridge, the retaining-pawl, by taking into another notch,serving to prevent any advance of the rackbar. The spring-presser duringthe-rearward movement of the rack-bar should be contracted, so as topress with elastic force against the next adjacent cartridge, and so asto press the range of cartridges backward against the cartridgecarriage. Under these circumstances, and as soon as a cartridge-shellmay have been withdrawn from the barrel and expelled laterally from thecartridge-carriage, the rearmost cartridge of the series in the magazinewill, by the action of the springpresser, be suddenly forced back on aninclined guide or plane, k, and from thence into the seat or recess ofthe cartridge-carriage.

A lever, I, is applied to the stock, and so as when turned in onedirection it will press upward the retaining-pawl, which at the sametime will elevate the impelling-pawl, the said lever serving to raisethe pawls out of action with the rack-bar, in order that the latter maybe drawn out of the magazine.

As the magazine has a slot extending through it lengthw'ise,iand forreception of the rack-bar, it becomes desirableto have the slotprotected from dirt or extraneous matters, which, getting into themagazine, might effect the proper movement-s ot' the cartridges. Forthis purpose I cover the magazine by a Wooden cover, slider, or shoe,It, so adapted to the magazine as to slide on it and be held to it andthe barrel by a band, S, going around the two. This cover not onlyprotects the magazine from dust, but from becoming indented or otherwiseinjured.

Another mode in which I have contemplated theA application of the pawlsto the rack-bar and its spring-presser is to hinge the pawls to thelatter when it is separate from the rackbar, the teeth of the rack-barbeing arranged nearer its front end, and so that the pawls may Work inthem. In this case the rack-bar is to be connected with thetrigger-guard lever by a connecting-rod, which, when the lever is moved,will produce a movement of the bar longitudinally of it.

I claim as lny invention- 1. The combination of the rack-bar c, the

spring-presser F,*or its equivalent, and the im peiling and retainingpawls G H, the whole being applied to the magazine B and thetrigger-guard lever E, and so as to operate together and With'thecharging-carriage, substantially as specified.

2. I also claim the combination of the pawlelevator l with the pawls GrH, and the rackbar c, and spring-presser F, when applied to a magazine,B, and trigger-guard lever E, substantiallyr in manner and so as tooperate as specified.

3. I also claim the arrangement ot' the pawlspring I with reference tothe two pawls G II, whereby it is caused to operate both ot' them.

4. I also claim the combination of the magazine-cover R and its band orattachment S with the separate tubular magazine B and the barrel A.

' Y Y ALBERT BALL.

Witnesses:

E. G. LAMsoN, CARLOS OOOLIDGE.

